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Houthis assault UAE-backed forces in southwest Yemen

Government forces attack positions of Houthis and pro-Saleh militants in Yemen on 6 April 2017 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu Agency]

May 19, 2017 at 12:48 pm

The Shia Houthi militant group launched an assault against United Arab Emirate-backed forces in Ta’iz governorate, Al-Masdar News reported.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels reportedly killed ten UAE-backed Southern Resistance soldiers in the offensive near the city of Mocha. Overnight, the group claimed to have destroyed ten UAE supplied military vehicles in Ta’iz governorate.

Al-Masdar News has been accused of being a propaganda outlet close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and lends media support to the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

Following regional power Saudi Arabia’s lead, the UAE intervened in the Yemen civil war in 2015 in a bid to assist the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, but since May 2017 have supported a southern secessionist movement called the Southern Transitional Council.

The UAE intends to address the threat of the Iranian-backed Houthi group and secure the Red Sea Hodeidah port.

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